Re: Death can come from behind

On Apr 4, 12:11 pm, "David T. Ashley" <d...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
"oasysco" <wilderkom...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1afd8f86-7d0c-43ab-abeb-65b4643178ea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



That said, I have a problem with the small mirrors on bikes being able
to tell if a vehicle approaching from the rear is going to hit me.
It's hard to gauge their approach speed and distance. Any ideas you
guys can offer in that respect would be helpful to all of us.

I agree with you.  In fact, it should be federally mandated for bikes that
the mirrors have to be out far enough to see straight behind, and have to be
big enough.

And the trend is towards dinky little, weird shaped mirrors on
"customized" cruisers and sportbikes. My state only requires one
mirror for inspection and I'm not sure that there is a minimum size.

For turn signals, there is a minimum width that the signals must be
apart, but they can be ridiculously small in size. And if that
troubles the owner, he can take them off altogether and still pass
inspection.


The Suzuki Katana I just bought is bad in this regard -- I just bought
mirror extenders.  IMHO the default configuration of the mirrors is unsafe.

My feeling about riding is that when slowing in traffic, a checklist item
has to be that the person behind you is also slowing.  If the traffic behind
you is distant but will eventually have to stop, then one should plot an
escape vector and use it if the traffic is carrying too much speed too
close.

Yup. Agreed and something I always do, but as you age, depth
perception and night vision get worse. That is, try judging how fast a
car is coming at you and how far away it is when you only have the
headlights and a street light to help judge distance and size at
night. That's what I was talking about when I said I had a problem.
Daytime, I can the shape of the car getting bigger in my mirrors.
Nighttime, not so well.


I actually don't blame car drivers for this kind of accident.  

Well, in this case, the car driver didn't even slow down before she
plowed into the back of the GW.

Given enough
stops, sooner or later someone will blow it -- this is human.  The problem
is that a fender bender to another auto is something far worse to a
motorcycle.

Greg
.

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